Draft-gear.



H. C. PRIEBEfv DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED IuLY 9.- ISI?.

Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

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DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED IuLY 9. Ism.

l ,25%1 @7. l Patnted Jan. 8,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HERMAN C. PRIEBE, F BLUE ISLAND, ELLINOIS.

DRAFT-GEAR Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten aan., s, raie.

Application filed J'uly 9, 1917. Serial No. 179,552.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN C. PRIEBE,

i a citizen of the United States, residing at in my 1905.

Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain newI and useful Improvement in Draft- Grears, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to railroad cars and has for its object the provision of an'improved draft gear structure and partielllarly to the means for assembling the same in a car structure. My invention is of pal'- ticular service in the application of the draft gears to cars having wooden center sills.

My invention, in some of its aspects, is an improvement upon the draft gear disclosed Patent 799,263, dated September 12,

In another of its aspects the invention .contemplates means whereby a given draft gear is adaptable to cars whose body bolsters are of different widths.

My invention in all of its aspects will be fully described in connection witlr the accompanying drawings showing the preferred embodiment thereof and in which Figure 1 is a plan view, partially in section; Fig. 2 is' a view on line 2-2 of Fig. `1; Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of one of the draft bars that enter into my preferred construction; Fig. 4 is a view on line 4-1 of Fig. 2; Figs. 5, 6 and 7 illustrate details of construction showing 'an element whereby the draft gear may be adapted to cars having body bolsters of different widths; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view 6 andl.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the diHerent figures. y

A portion of a car whose underframe is constructed mainly of wood is illustrated. The car floor a is supported upon the wooden center sills b, these center sills eX- tending from end to end of the car in accordance with common practice. These center sills are supported upon body holsters 3 which in turn are supported upon suitable trucks, not shown, all as will be understood by those skilled in the art. At each end of the car there is a suitable draft gear, to the form of which my invention is not to be limited. The draft gear at one end of the car is shown in Figs. `1 and 2 and will of a part shown in Figs. 5,

be generally described. rllhis draft gear includes a coupler 1 having a shank 2 which is connected with the yoke 21 below the center sills 3. An outer follower 4 is at the front end of the yoke and an inner follower 5 is at the rear end of the yoke, the outer follower being capable of'rearward movement when the coupler is moved inwardly and the inner follower being capable of outward movement when the coupler is moved outwardly. Coiled spring sets 6, 7 and 8 are interposed between the followers 4.- and 5 to resist the motion of each toward the other, the followers projecting beneath and across the center sills ZJ. lThese followers project through cheek plates 9 that are riveted to the inner faces of the draft bars 10. The

cheek plates are provided with slots 11 that are c0-eXtensive with the slots 12 in the draft bars, the followers being adapted to operate longitudinally of the car in these slots. The draft bars 1'0 have top flanges 13 and bottom flanges 14., the draft bars then being in the nature of channel irons. The inner and bottom faces of the center sills, at each end of the carstruc'ture, are lined by angle bars 15. The bottom flanges of these angle bars 15 rest upon the top flanges 13 of the draft bars 10 and are riveted thereto by rivets 16. The elongated bolts 17 pass vertically through the center sills b. The outer end of each draft bar 1() is riveted at 18 to a cast buffer block 19. This buffer block is reinforced by the end sill 20 which in turn is reinforced by the angular bracket 21 riveted upon each center sill angle iron 15 and having a branch engageable with the end sill. The inner end of each draft bar has riveted thereto an angular bracket 22 having a branch that engages the outer face of the adjacent body bolster 3.

By this arrangement the body bolster receives the bufiing shocks to which the draft barsI 10 are subject, the body bolster in turn bung reinforced by a plate 23 secured to the bot.- tom of each angle bar 15 and engaging the inner face of the bolster. The draft bars 10 thus terminate at the outer face of the adjacent body bolster 3 but the angle bars 15 are desirably continued inwardly beyond the plates 23 to enable these plates to be at tached thereto and for the purpose of securing thorough reinforcement of the ubars and the center sills where the draft rigging 1s disposed, The top vmargins rf the angle bars 15 are desirably provided with angle bracketsv 151 to reinforce said angle bars in the region of the body bolster.

These body holsters vary in horizontal width as illustrated'in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the

Vbody bolster shown in Fig. 5 being wider than the body bolster shown in Fig. 6 while thel latter body bolster is wider than the body bolster illustrated in Fig. 7. The plate or block 23 shown in detail in Fig. 8 is provided with rivetl holes 24, 25, 26 and 27 for the reception of rivets 28 that pass through otherrivet holes in the angle bars 15 that register with the holes in the plate 23. The holes through the plate 23 are arranged at the corners of a square, the sides of this square being parallel with the adjacent sides of the rectangular plate 23. The portions of the space between these squares upon the different sides thereof differ in width, whereby the space between the brackets 22 and the plates 23 may be varied to suit the horizontal 4width of the body bolster of the particular car to which the draft gear .isto

be applied. The holes 24, 25 are nearer the edge of the plate 23 adjacent thereto than the holes 25, 26 are to the edge of the plate 23 adjacent thereto, these latter holes being nearer the edge of the plate or block 23 adjacent thereto-than the holes 24, 27 are to the edge of the plate 23 adjacent thereto. When the Awidest bolster 3, shown in Fig. 5, is to be reinforced by the plates 23 that are to be secured to the bottoms of the angle bars 15 said plates are disposed with the holes 24, 25 adjacent the body bolster. 'When the narrower bolster, shown in Fig. 6, is to be reinforced bv the 'plates 23 said lates are dis posed with the holes 25, 26 adyacent the body bolster. When the narrowest bolster, shown in Fig. 7, is to be reinforced by the plates 23 said plates are disposed with the holes 24, 27

l adjacent the body bolster. It is not practi-V cal to provide new holes in the body holsters and angle irons since the changes are generally made where there are no drill presses or punching machines available. yBy providing the blocks 23 with the holes arranged therein as described all the necessary punching may be performed in the shop upon these plates which are shipped loose to the places where they are to be applied, it being This is the very convenient for the workmen to place the blocks upon the center sills in positions that will enable them to engage the holsters. preferred way of making the plates 23 adjustable longitudinally of the center sills to vary the spacesbetween them and the draft bars 10 to accommodate body bolsters of different widths but I do not wish to be limited to this arrangement and while these plates are preferably connected with the center sills by being connected with the bottom flanges of the angle bars 15, I do not wish to be limitedto this method of adj ustably securing these plates to the center sills. `It is to be understood that the plates 23 serve as a medium for the center sills and the body bolster whereby forward draft is exerted upon the body bolster, the draft bars 10 and the brackets 22 secured thereto and forming parts thereof transferring buding strains to the body bolster.

As I have illustrated my invention it will be observed that the space between the draft bars 10 is larger than the space between the center sills b whereby I am enabled readily to accommodate the cheek plates 9 between the draft bars 10 and the coupler structure between, the cheek plates. The offset relation of the bars 10 and 15 enable me to provide the increased space between the bars 10 for the accommodation of the cheek plates ofthe free space between the center sills, in-

elusive of their enlargements 15, may vary.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferred embodiment of my invention I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction shown as changes may readily be made without departing from the s irit of my invention, but having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the following A car structure including center sills; a body bolster; draft bars engaging the outer face of the body bolster; blocks for engaging'the inner face of the body bolster and having holes therethrough located -at un- 

